What a difference a day makes

We've had a full moon, and our first frost, although not the hard one to come, in which all plants are affected. I felt the cold on my cheeks the other day, and saw my breath in the air. It's time for jackets, sweatshirts, and sneakers instead of opened shoes. The trees are fast becoming stick-like once again, the same ones that were vivid and full at the beginning of the week. Preparedness is the key this time of the year, and as in past years, the gardens must be cleaned up and readied for the spring. This is not an easy task. No sooner have you cleaned up the leaves, it seems that you've got to do it all over again. Every year we remark about where do they all come from, as we do not have any trees in the front.

Fortunately this year we do not have the neighbors child sending over prized pears to land on our newly sided house and deck. Last year, I wasn't aware of this happening until, one day when I was home from work, I heard a thud which shook my back door. So, I went out to investigate and found the lot of them, bees and all "everywhere." I wasted no time calling the problem to the attention of his parents, who cleaned it up. The father, wisely got rid of the pear tree during the summer. Boys will be boys. Most of them are naughty, its in there genes. (Busy is good!) Being new neighbors, it was a bit uncomfortable, especially because his dad does not speak English and needed to have the conversation translated. They say, "all is well that ends well".

Everyone has small problems with their neighbors animals or children, from time to time. I recall the situation of dog poo or dog dodo which ever you would like to call it, was constantly being deposited on our lawn, not theirs. They had several dogs, now four. I got tired of removing it, from the shoes of people who entered our home. I also got tired of having to pick it up when it wasn't even our dogs. My former neighbor Val, said that when she had the problem, giving me advise, she'd pick-up the phone and call the owner, telling them that their dogs left a present on her lawn. Sure enough, one of the neighbors son's would resolve the problem quickly. I asked my husband, John, to mention it to the people involved, when he didn't I sent him out to pick-it up. Eventually, I told the wife and that's when I got result. She came over and picked up the deposits, herself. When she discovered how much fun it was to retrieve the stuff, the dogs were fitted for what is called an electric fence. "Resolved".

Now cats have started to serenade me at night, while they conjugate on top my parked car under my bedroom window. They love my gardens and have made themselves at home. Sometimes they climb the brick walkway and stairs to park their butts in front of the door in order to gain my attention. I don't have a cat, and I don't know where they belong. For some reason, they want to befriend me. Sometimes, they go out and sit on my swing which is located in the backyard. They act like they own the place. Perhaps, they like the many birds that perch on my dwarfed, red, Japanese maple which adorns my front lawn. Those birds are gone now, and the wrens and yellow finch, who sing beautifully, will return in the spring. Then, we have a family of chipmunks who live under my front stairwell. They've been there for as many years as we have. We consider them "family". We even have names for them like Chippy. They only require an entrance and occasionally make holes in our lawn. We're keeping our finger's crossed that the raccoons do not return to our attic. Now that's another story for another day. We have been fighting carpenter bees. If anyone has any information on how to get rid of those huge intruders who are territorial, I'd love to hear from you. We have them professionally sprayed every year.

Outside of that, I have little snakes, just like Fr. Peter's which are typical around here in most gardens, their harmless. They usually come out to get some sun, and move quickly away when startled. I rake carefully!

My husband purchased a fire pit in which we used to eliminate small twigs. Our town has strict laws about burning out of season, and they enforce them, with a stiff fine. We are not allowed to burn leaves (which needs to be bagged or if you have a lawn mower capable of mulching), that is the most beneficial method. The nutrition obtained from the fallen leaves provides nourishment for your soil, resulting in a beautiful green lawn.

The air is crisp and the cold will be gradually coming to NE, it gets dark early now, my electric blanket is warming the bed, and I am ready for it. Every day will make a difference now, we will need to do a little bit at a time, keeping in mind that the days are growing short, and we are transitioning into a new season.